Legal Specs

DMV Hearings

07 Jun 2006

DMV Hearings

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has the jurisdiction to administer an Administrative Per Se, commonly known as APS, hearing affecting the driving privileges of the DUI offender. The DMV case is totally separate and independent from the criminal case. Therefore, a DUI defendant must defend himself twice-at both the DMV and at criminal court. This also means that the DUI defendant gets punished twice.

In order to schedule an APS hearing, the DUI defendant must contact the DMV within 10 calendar days of arrest. This is a strict deadline. If missed, driving privileges will be suspended for the prescribed time, depending on the number of DUIs within the previous 10 years. The DMV determines the 10-year period based on arrest date to arrest date. After the first DUI offense, any subsequent offense is charged as a multiple offender DUI, with higher fines, longer suspension periods, and longer mandated alcohol education classes.

The APS hearing is conducted by a DMV Hearing Officer. This individual is not an officer of the court, but rather a DMV employee trained to hear these types of cases. There are three things that must be proved, by a preponderance of the evidence, in order to suspend a person's license:

1. Did the peace officer have reasonable cause to believe you were driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol?
2. Were you lawfully arrested?
3. Were you driving a motor vehicle when you had .08% or more, by weight, of alcohol in your blood?

The consequences of losing an APS hearing depend on how many, and what type of offenses occurred in the previous 10 years:

 First-time offender: Where a chemical test was performed, and the results show a BAC of .08 or more, the DMV will suspend the driver's license for four months. Where a chemical test is refused, the DMV will suspend for one year.
 Second-time offender: Where the chemical test is performed, and the BAC results are .08 or greater, the DMV will suspend for the driver's license for one year. Where chemical test is refused, there is a two-year revocation.
 Third-time offender: Where the chemical tests show a BAC of .08 or greater, there is a two-year revocation. But with a refusal, there is a three-year revocation.
 Four + offender: The punishment is the same whether a sample is provided or the test is refused: a four-year revocation of the person's driver's license.

In order to get reinstatement of driving privileges, the DUI offender must pay a $125 reinstatement fee, provide proof of financial responsibility (via the SR-22, which is gotten from the car insurance company), and offer proof of enrollment and ultimately proof of completion in an alcohol education class.